March 15, 2010

This week was really great. It went by so fast. We had zone conference this week. I got to spend a couple hours with Alex. It was so nice to see him! I’m so glad I got to see him. We both kept talking about how weird it was that we were just there, together, in south America. Him speaking french to his companions and me dutch to mine. I’m looking forward to the next zone conference already. President Gamiette is amazing. He told us a story about how when they came home from Tobago two weeks ago, they had gotten robbed. They took everything. Even their clothes. He told us how the kids were scared, so they got a guard to guard their house. He said, “but a guard is a person. And a person can read.” He gave the guard a book of mormon, taught him, and the guard is getting baptized next Saturday. He’s sucha good example of someone who has an eye single to the glory of God, someone who always seeks first His kingdom.

Elder holtz and I had an interesting day Friday. We came out of our apartment and heard “mormons, mormons.” So we looked and alittle black kid was riding his bike towards us. Suddenly, we hear a noise, and his entire handlebars just broke off his bike and he went down like a captain with his ship. We were laughing so hard and crying. Oh my gosh. The things you see on a mission. Later that day, we rode out to JArikaba. We’ve been working out there, but it’s tough because everyone is hindu and they don’t want to listen. But…hindu girls/women happen to love white men. So we decided to knock every house on this one street. Mostly hindus. At the end of the street, we ended up with two dinner invitations( hindu ladies) a marriage proposal, and a bag of bananas. It was so funny.

I love uitkijk so much. And Elder holtz is awesome. I truly gain a stronger testimony of this gospel every day.

Well here I am in the jungles of the Amazon! Uitkijk (pronounced Out-kike). It is a little village, much different from my former area. I'm serving with Elder Holtz, who is 6'7", so we make a pretty intimidating pair. He is only a couple of months away from going home, so as they say in the mission field, "I'll probably kill him." He speaks Dutch really well, so I'm hoping to learn a lot from him, though the dominant language here is Sranantango, which I undertand a lot better than I speak. Uitkijk is a small village that Elder Holtz has been serving in for awhile now, so the people love him a lot! His other companions and he have basically already tracted out the entire place a few times, so we will be starting over again and working with less active members. I'm looking forward to a great run here. I'm also looking forward to seeing my buddy Elder Alex Nelson. He just got transferred to French Guiana, so it looks like we'll be hooking up at zone conference next week. That's pretty surreal. . . haven't seen him in over a year, so it should be pretty sweet. I can't believe I've already been out 5 months!

Two Months Have Gone Fast!

Since January 5th, I have been serving in Paramaribo, in an area called Winica, with my first companion, Elder Dawson Lake, from Bountiful, Utah. He is a great trainer, and we have seen a lot of success together (not to mention had a lot of fun together!) We have had two baptisms: Egbert and a 12 year-old boy, the brother of a recently returned missionary. Simone, another of our investigators is being baptized the first week of March. I hope I can come back to be a part of it.

First Transfer! I will be leaving Winica this Wednesday, March 3rd, for an area called Uitkijk, in the jungle. I will miss working with Elder Lake! He has been such a great trainer, and we have had a lot of great experiences and success together. While in Winica, I got my backpack stolen, ate a cooked rat, met many members and friends that I will never forget, and got the worst sunburn of my life. Great times and fond memories.

My new companion will be Elder Holtz, and we will be mostly speaking Sranantango, the native language . . . I am still working on Dutch, so it should be an interesting ride. Wish me luck!

Suriname!

After 9 weeks of spiritual boot camp, I left the safety and confines of the MTC for the Washington D.C. North mission. Everyone was really nice and welcoming. I was the 5th elder in an already too crowded apartment; but not to worry, we just threw a mattress on the floor, and I was good to go. I had some great times serving in the nation's capital with great elders. It was beyond bitter cold, and I was really looking forward to thawing out in the Caribbean sun! On January 4th, 2010, I went from frigid to fried within in 24 hours! The long flight and transfers left me exhausted and hungry, but really excited! I had finally arrived in Suriname with a little Dutch under my belt and ready to give my shoes a good workout.